<\/p>\n
At Jimmy Kimmel\u2019s annual monologue to advertisers at Disney\u2019s recent upfront presentation, the ABC late-night host offered sympathy to his ousted CBS cohort Stephen Colbert.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst, it\u2019s bad enough to lose your job,\u201d Kimmel said. \u201cImagine getting replaced by the owner of the Weather Channel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Byron Allen, the media mogul whose holdings do include the Weather Channel, laughed when the gag was repeated to him during a recent phone conversation. \u201cI like Jimmy Kimmel a lot,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Allen, never lacking in self-confidence, can afford to roll with the jokes. Episodes of his 20-year-old syndicated program \u201cComics Unleashed,\u201d a half-hour show featuring mostly lesser-known stand-ups sharing routines and stories, are replacing \u201cThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert\u201d on CBS in the 11:35 p.m. time period<\/a> starting Friday. <\/p>\n While it\u2019s a triumph for Allen, 65, it\u2019s also a sign of how the traditional late-night talk show \u2014 one of television\u2019s most culturally influential formats \u2014 may no longer be sustainable in the era of streaming TV.<\/p>\n CBS said last year it canceled Colbert <\/a>because it lost $40 million a year as the late-night viewing habit among audiences has eroded in the streaming era. Many in the TV industry are skeptical of the claim, believing Skydance Media wanted to silence the relentless Trump-bashing host in order to clear the government regulatory path for its acquisition of network parent Paramount. (The FCC\u2019s approval of the deal<\/a> came days after the cancellation was announced.)<\/p>\n Cedric the Entertainer, left, with Byron Allen on the set of \u201cComics Unleashed.\u201d<\/p>\n (Allen Media Group)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n But no one who has worked in late-night television in recent years can dispute how financial challenges are clouding the format\u2019s future. Polished after-hours programs with a live audience, large teams of writers and producers and high-priced hosts are fighting off obsolescence as traditional TV audiences get smaller and ad revenues shrink. While CBS is the first to act, other networks have thought about getting out of the business altogether.<\/p>\n Since 2022, \u201cThe Late Show\u201d lost 20% of its audience in the advertiser-coveted 18-to-49 age group, according to Nielsen data. Ad spending on all late-night television shows hit $209 million in 2025, down from $519.7 million in 2017, according to data from Guideline.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing is forever, especially in television,\u201d said former network executive Ted Harbert, who oversaw the launches of \u201cThe Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,\u201d and \u201cLate Night with Seth Meyers\u201d at NBC. \u201cDigital tech is killing late night.\u201d<\/p>\n The hosts of the programs and their funniest bits are arguably seen by more people than ever before thanks to clips replayed on social media platforms. But the revenue generated by digital viewing doesn\u2019t approach what the networks get for audiences watching live on TV. <\/p>\n Over the last 10 years, late-night shows flocked to YouTube as a way to be a part of the national conversation and bring attention to the shows. Harbert believes the notion that the clips alone \u2014 which may feature a funny bit or a snapshot of a conversation with a guest \u2014 would help lure viewers to traditional TV was folly.<\/p>\n \u201cThe shows cannibalized themselves by making their show available in snack-size clips after the network airing,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd viewers obviously would rather watch a couple of five-minute clips than a whole show.\u201d<\/p>\n Late-night shows were once among the most profitable programs on TV because of their ability to reach viewers in the 18-to-34 age group that attract premium prices for commercial time. But the same demographic was the first to gravitate to streaming platforms and abandon traditional TV which thrives on appointment viewing.<\/p>\n Daniel Kellison, a former producer for \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live\u201d and \u201cThe Late Show with David Letterman,\u201d noted that Kimmel \u2014 who has also been targeted by the Trump administration<\/a> for his harsh barbs \u2014 has seen his TV ratings increase this year.<\/p>\n But the overall trend for the time period is still down. While Kellison believes Colbert\u2019s cancellation is an effort by CBS to appease Trump, he agrees that the genre needs to evolve and adapt to the changing media landscape.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s always going to be an audience for conversation around politics and life and these sort of shows will exist in different formats and I think it\u2019s incumbent upon people to figure out how to present them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n CBS executives have said they want to develop a new network show in the late-night time period. But for the next year it will lease the slot to Allen. His company Allen Media Group pays CBS for the time, covers the cost of production and sells the advertising. He is also the host. The deal will erase whatever losses the network experienced in that TV block.<\/p>\n \u201cComics Unleashed\u201d has been running in the 12:35 a.m. hour since CBS canceled \u201cAfter Midnight\u201d last year. When that show moves to the earlier time slot, it will be replaced by another Allen program, \u201cFunny You Should Ask,\u201d a comic quiz show hosted by John Kelley.<\/p>\n